Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free

The culture wars are over and the idiots have won. This is a veteran journalist’s caustically funny, righteously angry lament about the glorification of ignorance in the United States. The three Great Premises of Idiot America: · Any theory is valid if it sells books, soaks up ratings, or otherwise moves units; anything can be true if someone says it loudly enough; "fact" is that which enough people believe. And "truth" is determined by how fervently they believe it.

Why the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond

Why the Right Went Wrong offers a historical view of the right since the 1960s. Its core contention is that American conservatism and the Republican Party took a wrong turn when they adopted Barry Goldwater's worldview during and after the 1964 campaign. Since 1968, no conservative administration could live up to the rhetoric rooted in the Goldwater movement that began to reshape American politics 50 years ago.

Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism

Religious fundamentalists and biblical literalists present any number of arguments that attempt to disprove evolution. Those with a sympathetic ear often fail to critically examine these creationist claims, leading to an ill-informed public and, perhaps more troubling, ill-advised public policy. As Aron Ra makes clear, however, every single argument deployed by creationists in their attacks on evolution is founded on fundamental scientific, religious, and historical falsehoods - all of them.

Better Off Without 'Em: A Northern Manifesto for Southern Secession

Let’s talk about secession. Not exactly the most suitable cocktail party conversation starter anywhere in the country, but take that notion deep into the heart of Dixie and you might find yourself running from the possum-hunting conservatives, trailer-park lifers, and prayer warriors Chuck Thompson encountered during the two years he spent traveling the American South asking the question: Would we be better off without ’em?

Lies, Incorporated: The World of Post-Truth Politics

In today's post-truth political landscape, there is a carefully concealed but ever-growing industry of organized misinformation that exists to create and disseminate lies in the service of political agendas. Ari Rabin-Havt and Media Matters for America present a revelatory history of this industry - which they've dubbed Lies, Incorporated - and show how it has crippled legislative progress on issues including tobacco regulation, public health care, climate change, gun control, immigration, abortion, and same-sex marriage.

The Elephant in the Room: A Journey into the Trump Campaign and the "Alt-Right"

'But Hillary is a known Luciferian,' he tried. 'She's not a known Luciferian,' I said. 'Well, yes and no,' he said. In The Elephant in the Room, Jon Ronson, the New York Times best-selling author of The Psychopath Test, Them, and So You've Been Publicly Shamed, travels to Cleveland at the height of summer to witness the Republican National Convention.

One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America

Conventional wisdom holds that America has been a Christian nation since the Founding Fathers. But in One Nation Under God, historian Kevin M. Kruse argues that the idea of "Christian America" is nothing more than a myth - and a relatively recent one at that.

Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to Steal America's Democracy

With Barack Obama's historic election in 2008, pundits proclaimed the Republicans as dead as the Whigs of yesteryear. Yet even as Democrats swooned, a small cadre of Republican operatives, including Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie, and Chris Jankowski, began plotting their comeback with a simple yet ingenious plan. These men had devised a way to take a tradition of dirty tricks - known to political insiders as "ratf**king" - to a whole new unprecedented level.

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right

Why is America living in an age of profound economic inequality? Why, despite the desperate need to address climate change, have even modest environmental efforts been defeated again and again? Why have protections for employees been decimated? Why do hedge-fund billionaires pay a far lower tax rate than middle-class workers? The conventional answer is that a popular uprising against "big government" led to the rise of a broad-based conservative movement.

Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?

It is a widespread belief among liberals that if only Democrats can continue to dominate national elections, if only those awful Republicans are beaten into submission, the country will be on the right course. But this is to fundamentally misunderstand the modern Democratic Party. Drawing on years of research and first-hand reporting, Frank points out that the Democrats have done little to advance traditional liberal goals: expanding opportunity, fighting for social justice, and ensuring that workers get a fair deal.

The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation

In politics, when reason and emotion collide, emotion invariably wins. In this landmark book, scientist and psychologist Drew Westen shows how electorates vote not with their heads but with their hearts, and how the marketplace that matters most is the marketplace of emotion - filled with values, images, analogies, moral sentiments, and moving oratory.

Now: The Physics of Time - and the Ephemeral Moment That Einstein Could Not Explain

You are reading the word now right now. But what does that mean? What makes the ephemeral moment now so special? Its enigmatic character has bedeviled philosophers, priests, and modern-day physicists from Augustine to Einstein and beyond. Einstein showed that the flow of time is affected by both velocity and gravity, yet he despaired at his failure to explain the meaning of now. Equally puzzling: Why does time flow? Some physicists have given up trying to understand and call the flow of time an illusion.

Manish Kataria says:"A book with good beginning that fizzles out in end"

Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In

When Bernie Sanders began his race for the presidency, it was considered by the political establishment and the media to be a "fringe" campaign, something not to be taken seriously. After all, he was just an independent senator from a small state with little name recognition. His campaign had no money, no political organization, and it was taking on the entire Democratic Party establishment. By the time Sanders' campaign came to a close, however, it was clear that the pundits had gotten it wrong.

Smells Like Dead Elephants: Dispatches from a Rotting Empire

Bringing together Matt Taibbi's most incisive and hilarious work from his "Road Work" column in Rolling Stone, Smells Like Dead Elephants shines an unflinching spotlight on the corruption, dishonesty, and sheer laziness of our leaders.

Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement That Shattered the Party

Inspired by the work of Psychologist Erich Fromm, who asserted that the fear of freedom propels anxiety-ridden people into authoritarian settings, Blumenthal explains in a compelling narrative how a culture of personal crises has defined the radical right, transforming the Republican party for the next generation and setting the stage for the future of American politics.

Fighting God: An Atheist Manifesto for a Religious World

Fighting God is a firebrand manifesto from one of the most recognizable faces of atheism. In his audiobook, Silverman - a walking, talking atheist billboard known for his appearances on Fox News - discusses the effectiveness, ethics, and impact of the in-your-face-atheist who refuses to be silent. Silverman argues that religion is more than just wrong: it is malevolent and does not deserve our respect. It is our duty to be outspoken and do what we can to bring religion down.

Holy Sh!t - The Insanity of Blind Faith: Volume One, Christianity

In this book, Casper Rigsby addresses the doctrine of Christianity known as the Bible, and dives head long into the insanity within that text. The book will introduce the non-Christian to some of the most irrational and illogical ideas within the Christian doctrine and will remind the progressive or moderate Christian of just how insane the Bible is.

Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few

In Saving Capitalism, Robert Reich reveals the entrenched cycles of power and influence that have damaged American capitalism, perpetuating a new oligarchy in which the 1 percent get ever richer and the rest - middle and working class alike - lose ever more economic agency, making for the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity since World War II.

White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America

In White Trash, Nancy Isenberg upends assumptions about America's supposedly class-free society. Poor whites were central to the rise of the Republican Party in the early 19th century, and the Civil War itself was fought over class issues nearly as much as it was fought over slavery. Reconstruction pitted poor white trash against newly freed slaves, which factored in the rise of eugenics. These poor were at the heart of New Deal reforms and LBJ's Great Society; they haunt us in reality TV shows like Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and Duck Dynasty.

It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism

Hyperpartisanship has gridlocked the American government. Congress' approval ratings are at record lows, and both Democrats and Republicans are disgusted by the government's inability to get anything done. In It's Even Worse Than It Looks, Congressional scholars Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein present a grim picture of how party polarization and tribal politics have led Congress - and the United States - to the brink of institutional failure.

Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming

The U.S. scientific community has long led the world in research on such areas as public health, environmental science, and issues affecting quality of life. Our scientists have produced landmark studies on the dangers of DDT, tobacco smoke, acid rain, and global warming. But at the same time, a small yet potent subset of this community leads the world in vehement denial of these dangers.

American Amnesia: How the War on Government Led Us to Forget What Made America Rich

Like every other prospering democracy, the United States developed a mixed economy that channeled the spirit of capitalism into strong growth and healthy social development. In this bargain, government and business were as much partners as rivals. Public investments in education, science, transportation, and technology laid the foundation for broadly based prosperity.

Joseph M. Hidalgo says:"Very insightful! Technical at first but a must read for today's political environment!!"

White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide

As Ferguson, Missouri, erupted in August 2014, and media commentators across the ideological spectrum referred to the angry response of African Americans as 'black rage', historian Carol Anderson wrote a remarkable op-ed in the Washington Post showing that this was, instead, 'white rage at work. With so much attention on the flames,' she wrote, 'everyone had ignored the kindling.'

An Atheist in the FOXhole: A Liberal's Eight-Year Odyssey into the Heart of the Right-Wing Media

The "Fox Mole" delivers a funny, opinionated memoir of his eight years at the unfair, unbalanced Fox News Channel. An Atheist in the FOXhole has everything that liberals and Fox haters could desire: details about how Fox’s right-wing ideology is promoted throughout the channel; why specific angles and personalities are the only ones broadcasted; the bizarre stories Fox anchors actually believed (and passed on to the public); and tales of behind-the-scenes mayhem and mistakes, all part of reporting Fox’s version of the news.

Publisher's Summary

Best-selling author Chris Mooney uses cutting-edge research to explain the psychology behind why today’s Republicans reject reality - it’s just part of who they are. From climate change to evolution, the rejection of mainstream science among Republicans is growing, as is the denial of expert consensus on the economy, American history, foreign policy, and much more.

Why won’t Republicans accept things that most experts agree on? Why are they constantly fighting against the facts? Science writer Chris Mooney explores brain scans, polls, and psychology experiments to explain why conservatives today believe more wrong things, appear more likely than Democrats to oppose new ideas and less likely to change their beliefs in the face of new facts, and sometimes respond to compelling evidence by doubling down on their current beliefs.

Certain to spark discussion and debate, The Republican Brain also promises to add to the lengthy list of persuasive scientific findings that Republicans reject and deny.

Chris Mooney is the best-selling author of The Republican War on Science, the host of the Point of Inquiry podcast, and the author of The Intersection blog for Science Progress. He has written several books, as well as articles for Mother Jones, American Prospect, Harper’s, Washington Post, USA Today, and Slate. He has appeared on The Last Word, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Book TV, Science Friday, Morning Joe, and Fresh Air, among other programs.

I have to laugh. A search in Audible using the keywords Republican and Brain turn up “The Republican Brain – The Science of Why they Deny Science” and it also turns up Ann Coulter’s “If Democrats had any Brains, They’d Be Republicans”. One is a serious study and the other is penned by an entertainer. Having seen the performer Ann Coulter and not having much respect for her capacity to reason, I will pass on her book but I will do due diligence and Google her take on Evolution and Climate Change for this review.

It appears that just like many religious right Republicans, she rejects these two convincing science based findings. This book attempts to figure out why a large number of Republicans can ignore solid science. I wanted to know as well. I have Conservative friends and family that I like tremendously but cannot figure out why they reject science and find getting into discussions with them is futile.

There is a lot of solid research here and while the author is a liberal, he occasionally delivers biting criticism of the liberal state of mind. I wonder if Ann can find anything positive to say about a liberal in her book? Essentially the conservative frame of mind has its positive applications sometimes in society, but there is a lot of positives for the liberal bias. One study among many that impressed me talked about brains scans showing emotions being predominant with Republican reasoning and the cerebral area taking the lead with Liberal reasoning. Studies find a cluster of traits shared by many Republicans. One is they do not like uncertainty – liberals do not have a problem with this. It is no surprise that the majority of scientists are more likely to be liberal with the nature of the vocation being amenable to upheaval of certainties when new solid evidence comes in. A religious right Republican is more likely to let the more primitive emotional brain system kick in when presented with solid facts and dig in their heels and deny.

Surprisingly an educated Republican science denier is actually more recalcitrant than an uneducated one when good evidence comes in. They are more adept at bringing in complicated nonsense arguments. This is called being idiot smart. For me, the best way to describe this is to go back a few hundred years to Galileo’s time. His notion that the earth was not the center of the universe went against the teachings of the church. I’m sure many educated religious right people of that time scorned the conclusion that the earth revolved around the sun and came up with some very byzantine proofs to support the sun revolved around the earth view. But Galileo was right and he had good evidence to support his contentions. Darwin and the majority of climate change scientists are probably correct as well.

Liberals and Republicans are human and are capable of similar mistakes with motivated reasoning. I now have a better understanding that my Pollyanna wish to convince a science denier with cogent arguments will ultimately fail because they are reasoning with a more primitive human system that sometimes was the best answer when survival of the group was on the line.

I confess that I selected this book because I thought it was more about genetics than it is. In truth, it barely touches upon the topic, and then principally from a group selection perspective which the author correctly acknowledges is out of vogue. Having said that, I was moderately interested in the content. It is far from revolutionary. Different people are differently disposed to think in different ways. This means that each of us has our own in-built bias. That bias makes us prefer certain things over others. It predisposes us to accept certain arguments and it might enable us to accept as true that which is objectively false. None of this is new. Applying it to political psychology might be new, but it is hardly surprising. Some of the studies are interesting, but without the detail of the testing it is hard to gauge their objective application beyond the test circumstance. And I say all of this as a self confessed "small l, liberal". Does this make me a contrarian or a paradigm liberal? I don't know. I suspect that the psychology of pigeon-holing people doesn't help make that judgment any easier; merely easier for the examiner to analyse. I stopped worrying about the psychology of what I do a long time ago. Maybe that makes me a conservative. I work in the law. Perhaps that makes me authoritarian. I think I am a lot of many things and made up of many personality traits. That's what makes me human.I think there is a worthwhile message in this book. Unfortunately, despite a concerted attempt to be balanced, the title is a real set-back. It looks like a device to sell books, and it is not the message of the book. The language is unnecessarily pejorative. The book is better than that and it would have benefited from omitting the rhetoric. This is most correct of the conclusion which even the author recognises as "kum ba yah".Of course, I am not living in the USA. Politics in Australia is marked by a sameness (nearly everyone, on both sides of the political divide, is a moderate by US standards). There are the truth deniers, but generally we shake our heads and ignore them so they can follow their own truth. We have a Christian Right, but it does not come close to the US, and we have no equivalent to the Tea Party. All of this allows me to be immediately more complacent even though I know that in 15 years we will have what the US has now. I lament that happening, but I remain a true liberal to the extent that I continue to believe that good argument usually wins. Good argument does not equal truth. Maybe you have to be a lawyer to accept this conundrum. I don't know the answers, but I don't think reading this will hurt your chance at understanding. Just suspend your judgment, bite your annoyance down from time to time and it is a worthwhile listen. No complaints about the performance.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Republican Brain to be better than the print version?

I am always a fan of books in print, but this is a good one to read in the car. Personally, I tend to pick non-fiction books apart, so it takes forever for me to read them. I was glad to have this in audio format if only for the benefit of getting through it quickly and not being so nitpicky.

Have you listened to any of William Hughes’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Never heard any of William Hughes' books before, but he was very good. I enjoyed listening to him.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It was definitely hard to turn it off, but it is so long that it would be hard to find that much time all at once.

Any additional comments?

Please disregard any reviews that claim this book is biased. I would question whether that person had even read the book, since the author clearly tries to understand the psychology of why BOTH parties think and act the way they do. Mooney does a great job of showing the differences between the parties and noting how each party adds value to our country. It is not a question of intelligence or morality. He makes no claim that Republicans are idiots or crazy, as one reviewer on this site interprets this book. He simply explains that conservatives and liberals are wired differently.

I think this topic is extremely important - it is something that has always frustrated me as a liberal. I know many conservatives who I consider to be smart and genuinely good people. How then can they be so wrong when it comes to scientific fact?

This book's premise is that humans, in general, are hardwired to respond emotionally at first and then justify that response using facts. Everyone does this, regardless of political affiliation. The primary difference between conservatives and liberals is their level of openness - liberals tend to be very open to change and new ideas, where conservatives tend to be more closed, valuing tradition and hierarchy. Liberals, therefore, are more apt to change their minds when presented with facts and data consistently over time. Conservatives, however, react in just the opposite way - sometimes they will even cling harder to previously held beliefs when presented with opposing data. Understanding why this happens is crucial in determining how we communicate. I hope that people who read this book will not only come away with a better understanding of how the two parties think, but also start considering ways that we can work together toward common goals.

I was a bit skeptical coming into this book, thinking it would be little more than a partisan rant, but it was actually more fair-minded than I expected. I may be biased because I'm liberal, but I found the evidence pretty convincing that misinformation is a bigger problem on the right than it is on the left, and that this asymmetry can be traced to specific personality traits and cognitive styles pinned down by psychology and neuroscience experiments. I found this evidence pretty disheartening, as it suggests little hope for future bipartisanship, but it is important information that needs to be disseminated (even though conservatives will find a way to dismiss it). If you've ever wondered why liberals and conservatives can't get along, this book is for you. If you suspect that the right is more full of it than the left and are looking for evidence, this book is for you. If you're conservative, you will probably hate it and find a way to dismiss every word of it. If you're on open-minded conservative, you'll probably still hate it, but you might learn a few things.

What made the experience of listening to The Republican Brain the most enjoyable?

The insights into authoritarian brains vs open brains. The title, "The Republican Brain," is a smart one, because it grabs attention, but it is not so much about political affiliation but how likely you are to affiliate with a certain way of thinking based on how your brain receives and processes information. It was helpful to understand, on a scientific and practical level, how certain affinities for openness or hierarchy will color a person's outlook and how they receive information. It helped me to rethink how I approach debates of all kinds, as well.

Who was your favorite character and why?

N/A

What about William Hughes’s performance did you like?

It was conversational. He had a lot of statistical information to relay in an interesting way, and he did a commendable job.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

Facts don't matter as much as certainty and closure to those most likely to agree with Republican points of view. This is saving me countless hours trying to pull together the most convincing facts to present to a conservative.

Any additional comments?

Don't dismiss or pass over this book because of the title. Insights like these are crucial for bringing together our divided citizenry. Why should liberals, especially, listen to it? Because they are the most likely to take the information and adjust in ways that will help us all be more effective. Why should conservatives listen to it? One, they will find equal amounts of commendation for what they bring to the world as critiques of where they are missing out on it. I will shake the hand of any self-identified Republican who listens to and hears the whole thing. There's not a bunch of conservative bashing in here; rather profound insights into why we think the way we do - and the research is just getting started.

In short, Mooney uses science to uncover how open and closed brains work. This is not opinion; this is science using the scientific method. In his journey, he indeed changes his thesis to accommodate the observations and results. He doesn’t just make the stuff up.

Ironically, some of these reviews for this book are the very result of what Mooney discusses. I laughed out loud at a few, they make Mooney’s point exactly… but alas, I’ll let you hear the book. Once you do, come back and read the reviews again. Most importantly, look at the specific arguments that these reviewers make. The wording and phrasing demonstrate specifically what Mooney’s research uncovers, a sort of wired blindness to reality. The book discusses why this is the case.

The most interesting aspect was the bio-feedback notion, i.e. that people become entrenched in a certain way of thinking and that the very act of this behavior strengthens the brain’s wiring. This can be shown using brain scans and empirically demonstrated using survey results.

In the end, Mooney even argues that open (liberal) people have weaknesses that closed (conservative) people don’t have, and that the open brained people need to consider and use some of the valuable aspects of the closed brain. This brings to light the idea there is value in both kinds of thinking.

If you’re somewhat of a liberal, this is a great book. Get it, you won’t be disappointed. You’ll love this book.

If you’re somewhat conservative, you might also want to give it a try. If you do, force yourself to consider the information and the facts. The very act of thinking about the material will actually change the way your brain works (seriously, they have used brain scans to prove it).

And finally, if you’re VERY conservative, forget about it. This book will drive you completely nuts. You won’t understand it. In fact, you actually can’t absorb the information. Asking you to listen would be like handing a printed book to a blind person. I’m not trying to be insulting; I just don’t want you wasting the credit.

In spite of a fairly even-handed critique of both sides, I doubt whether most conservatives would feel comfortable with this book.For me, a liberal, this book has already helped me cope with the "I don't want to hear any viewpoint except my own" attitude I get from most conservatives. I do, however, understand their insecurities a lot better. Not that there's anything that can be done about it. If you're expecting a book that will help you convince conservatives that they're wrong, this isn't it. Nor will it help you sleep at night when you think of these people doggedly holding to views that are contrary to the best interest of our country, humanity, and the planet. What it basically explains is why there is absolutely no way to convince these people they are wrong by any logical means.The book goes on to explain why we need conservatives in our political mix. They are loyal, decisive, and persistent. Swell. But do we really need so many of them?

I loved the studies that showed that trying to argue reason with a conservative is about as constructive as banging my head against a wall. It has steeply decreased by comments on Facebook. I have found humor is much more effective than facts.

Who was your favorite character and why?

n/a

Which character – as performed by William Hughes – was your favorite?

n/a

If you could give The Republican Brain a new subtitle, what would it be?

Stop trying to argue reason with your conservative friends.

Any additional comments?

It isn't all conservative bashing. The author has positive things to say about conservatives and negative things to say about liberals.

this explains why my mom always skips right to the end of books after reading the first chapter, she emailed me after supposedly starting to read this,"I just can't get into this French guy, I'll try again later. Love, Mom" Hmmm... is the author French?... but of course being a liberal, I agreed to let her take me to, "Hillary ' s America" which she believed every word of without question... I have to remember I can't make her change her mind, or dazzle her with actual facts- I have learned to stop arguing with one of her ex roomates about the virtue of Fox news and the worthless and biased information on every other channnel, especially CNN and the New York Times.... there are no words, but I'm all for the truce! :)